A forensic autopsy is performed pertaining to the law and includes any natural deaths that did not occur in a hospital, accidents, suicides and homicides. These autopsies are mainly performed by a pathologist or medical examiner that has a helper called an autopsy technician.

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Brains in a jar

Image: human brains preserved in
formaldehyde at the Texas State Mental Hospital by Adam Voorhes, from
"Malformed: Forgotten Brains of the Texas State Mental Hospital", 2014.

Several decades ago, the practice of pathology was very different than
it is now. Autopsy rates of hospital patients were much, much higher and
idea of obtaining patient consent for the preservation and storage of
human body parts for teaching was, essentially, unknown. The most prized
specimens were those that demonstrated pathologies - especially one
that were extreme or rare. Due to the nature of its patient population,
the collection of human brains at the Texas State Mental Hospital was
both. Dating back to the 1950s, the collection was full of unusual
neuropathological conditions, wondrous to behold.
But in 1985, the Hospital realized that it was in violation of federal
standards regarding preservation - the collection needed to be
transferred elsewhere. Several major institutions - including Harvard
and Yale - battled it out to become the collection's new home. The
brains ended up at the University of Texas at Austin, but due to a lack
of funding the collection was set aside, stuffed in a closet deep in
bowels of the hospital, and forgotten, unviewed and unused. Due to lack
of maintenance, 100 brains (roughly half the collection) had to be
destroyed around 2002 and records listing medical history and diagnoses
for each specimen were lost.

In 2011, photographer Adam Voorhes happened to get a look at the
collection and decided to photograph it, leading to the publication of
"Malformed: Forgotten Brains of the Texas State Mental Hospital" in
2014. His work prompted the university to again use the collection for
education - undergraduates will study the brains and they'll be passed
through a high-resolution MRI in an attempt to correlate specimens with
specific pathologies. They might even be put on public display, proving
that everything old is new again - even brains in a jar.

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